The highlight of 2012 was undoubtably my interview with Orlando Higginbottom, the brains behind UK dance act Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Orlando sat in for a chat with me for Music Feeds at Sydney’s Universal Music Studios. We caught the solo producer on the day of his exclusive Australian show at Oxford Art Factory on Thursday, October 4 that sold out in just 40 minutes.
In my opinion TEED was one of the freshest and most exciting producers of 2012, his debut album Trouble, scored him first act on the Field Day lineup, holding no hard feelings from his cancelled slot from last years festival. TEED was apologetic about cancelling his previous tour, although he is keen to make it up to Australian audiences by following up his double new year’s festival appearances with a host of sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne.
TEED jokes about never having met his Australian label counterparts, although funnily enough we sat in their headquarters for the interview. Widely renowned for staying away from trends, Orlando also explored the idea that popular dance music, in particular house music, is quite vacuous in the sense that it lacks the substance to give it longevity.
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs album Trouble out now
Adam and Andrew from electronic DJ/production duo Doctor Werewolf drop in with Music Feeds at Fat As Butter Festival to talk bass music. An ever present force on Australian festival lineups, tours and club nights, Doctor Werewolf know better than most just how much the Australian scene is growing. They talk about the benefit of Festivals like Fat As Butter getting behind bass music as it grows domestically, and huge impact exports like Knife Party are having on the local scene.
Doctor Werewolf are experiencing success also, with their latest EP Wolfzilla tracking incredibly well on Beatport. Keen to build on the success and enjoyment of Wolfzilla, they are aiming to get straight back into the studio to deliver more original material. Keep an ear open for Adam's MCing on future releases.
Wolfzilla out now via Beatport
Beard, Wives, Denim is the latest full-length release from Perth boys, Pond. It has seen the poppish indie jam outfit tick off a number of boxes, including their first release through a Major record label, as well as a meteoric rise to the top of many people's 'recently played' playlists.
The release came from a not-too-orthodox approach to the recording process. As the boys tell Music Feeds, the team re-located to a farm near Eagle Bay, where they stocked up a small property with all their equipment and lived in eachother's pockets for two weeks, smashing out all the tunes. They found inspiration for this in the annals of rock music, going back to their roots for a record.
The band also discuss how the presence of a major label has changed things. They explain that the best result has come from the exposure that this allows. Still making the same music, the band has found that they've received more traction from the new fans. The upcoming international tour dates have also been attributed to this.
Performing at Fat As Butter, the boys also unveil plans for a new record / LP through Modular.
Music Feeds TV caught up with massive Perth producer Shockone at Oxford Art Factory just before his first headlining show of a national tour in support of Chaos Theory, the first single off the upcoming album Universes. Having moved to London in late 2011, Shockone has been thriving in the taste making circuit, playing shows across the UK and Europe in the lead up to his album release.
The debut album Universes will be a diverse range of bass music that will be "40% drum and bass, and 60% everything else". There will be collaborations with local hotshot Phetsta and UK label mate Metrik on the album, including the vocals of Shockone's internationally renown sister Reija Lee. It will be interesting to see what bearing living in "the city that stays a couple of steps ahead" will have, and whether the future garage bass movement that is blowing up in London right now will have any impact on recordings.
Shockone also explores how Perth's warehouse rave scene dew himself and fellow Perth drum and bass champions Pendulum and Phetsta to drum and bass. A former drummer himself, Shockone explains how the dynamics of drum and bass music convinced him to get into producing and DJing - "it's like the metal of dance music".
The Chaos Theory Tour kicked off at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday the 1st September, playing eleven dates and wrapping up on Saturday the 22nd September at Onefiveone in Wollongong.
I was on site with Music Feeds for the Sydney rally to Free Pussy Riot to interview some key members of the resistance. The rally consisted of Sydney punk bands like Fait Accompli, DampVamp and Sweet Teeth (among others) who turned up with drums and loud speakers to publicly voice their support for the freeing of Pussy Riot. An issue that had artists the world over questioning the practice of free speech, and the dictatorship-like reign of Russian ruler Putin.
The masterminds behind the punk driven rally are Ray from Fait Accompli and Hugh from Sailor Jerry, who put together the My Pussy Riot Compilation CD. The CD is a free download from this site: http://mysydneyriot.com/2012/08/15/
The international condemnation of Pussy Riot's harsh sentencing has had widespread effect in Russia, and is bound to make crucial changes to Russia's harsh censorship laws and corruption.
I caught up with Elliot and Sam from much-hyped Sydney outfit The Rubens at Ivy League Records HQ for Music Feeds to chat about their self-titled debut album.
On a massive high off the back of a killer packed-out show at Splendour in the Grass 2012, The Rubens are keeping on the front foot, releasing the 2nd single off their forthcoming debut album My Gun on August 4. The Rubens explain the extraordinary journey that took them to New York to record their debut with super producer David Kahne (Paul Mcartney, The Strokes, Regina Spektor, Lana Del Ray).
On a dream run in a short career that has only spanned 18 months, The Rubens tell Music Feeds how they deal with the haters who are cynical that they have been living off the hype of Lay it Down. As Sam puts it “we are more than just Lay it Down“ - and as they put it they are genuinely stoked to be finding success and be consistently playing bigger shows. The album is dubbed a more thorough exploration of their sound, and delves into a range of different styles.
Their adventure for the album was huge, with their management throwing names around for potential collaborators like Lykke Li, Norah Jones right down to Azelia Banks. For those into the album, imagine the song Paddy featuring Azelia Banks vocals.
The Rubens record is out via Ivy League Records.
In between rehearsals MusicFeedsTV met with Sticky Fingers at the Annadale hotel. Their gig at the Annadale hotel this Friday 6th of July will show off a number of new compositions and is set to go off in the usual chaos that the band has becoming renowned for. The title single from their highly anticipated début album "Caress your soul" is due for release this Friday. With a smooth production treatment on the track the band is still work shopping the song for live performance. Despite being ranked number 8 on the Unearthed radio charts the band gives little credence to the song's position instead seeing the channel as a good platform for listeners to get a free download of their music. They would much prefer people enjoy their music live and get down and party. Sometimes described in genre as Reggae surf music, the eclectic nationalities of the band include Kiwi, British, Maldy, Brazilian and first fleet, leading them to describe themselves quite harshly as mongrels. Struggling to find a platform for the music the band took matters into their own hands and during the Newtown festival setup their own music stage at a nearby house Guerrilla style to spark interest in nearby attendees. The stunt pulled dividends with Sticky Fingers being added to the bill the following year. "Growing up and partying in Newtown we always wanted to play the festivals. We submitted an application for the first 2 years but got knocked back. Then on the 3rd year we decided that, well we have a mate Jacob who has a backyard which is virtually inside the festival. So we just got a bunch of milk crates and plywood and setup a stage in the backyard, hired out a sound system and unofficially headlined the festival from the back yard..... The following year they invited us back for a prime spot on the main stage" http://youtu.be/WoLseHyIqJ8Producer Dan Hulme happened to see the specticle and enjoying the band's raw energy offered to produce their new album. Asking for multiple parts for each instrument Sticky Fingers feel that Hulme has really put his stamp on the bands music although these ideas reflected what the band were going for as well. Check out Sticky Finger's party this Friday at the Annandale Hotel with support slots from : The Medics, Underlights, Rapids and Beef Jerk.
Devin oozes oodles of casual cool. The Julian Casablancas of rockabilly revival. He has the rock frontman image, and the nonchalant "I don't give a fuck" attitude to match. Talking to him however, exposes a softer side, a shy introverted character whose music flowed from a deeply personal process. Following the huge hype off the back of a Triple J feature album for his rocking debut 'Romancing', Devin sits down with me for Music Feeds TV to talk about his two day Australian tour, why the NY music scene "isn't fun" and the dark place from which his sound emerged. For your listening pleasure is Masochist. The track which Devin himself said was the absolute epitome of 'Romancing'.
Snagging feature album slots on Triple J and FBI radio this week, Jonathan Boulet's Album 'We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart' is making waves across Australia with his second, much anticipated release on Modular Records. A reflection of the respect he holds in the local scene as one of the most exciting and consistent songwriters around. Boulet caught up with us to chat about the creative process of album no. 2, narrowly avoiding bullets in his new film clip and .. blow up dolls?
'We Keep The Beat, Found The Sound, See The Need, Start The Heart' is out on June 8 via Modular/Universal. Check out the aforementioned clip to new song This Is Called Ragged
Oh, and here's the percussion heavy single Trounce. Strap on your shoe scooters cause you'll be running on the spot like a mad man to this one! Interview for Music Feeds TV. Filmed, edited and produced by Dan Taylor
I caught up with Richard and Laurence from PVT (Previously known as Pivot) in the lead up to their Vivid Live show. PVT explain how the show acts as a platform to exclusively showcase new material from the forthcoming album, the addition of an exciting visual element to the performance; as well as a how the Symphony Orchestra is being used to add another layer to their sound.
Allow dense synth laden song Light Up Bright Fires to take you to another place..
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